Strong for you
by Profedericus
Summary: How can something go so terribly wrong? In a controlled environment, something did, and something happened. something the naked eye cannot comprehend. Even if the mind does, it's hard to believe and accept. Don't believe the things you hear and only half of what you see. Deaging fanfic, Stony. Rated T for now.
1. I don't

**This is a request fanfic for theseawillneversettle at tumblr. I was going for a oneshot but got so absorbed into the story that I decided to make it a bit longer. Here's the request:**

**"_Where Tony and Steve deage (lasts about a month). They're still adult minded (for few days) and they become BFs reage fall in love._"**

**I've never written a deage fanfic before and actually never read one, so here goes. When the last chapter of this story is posted, I will be open for requests once again.**

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" This is absolutely PREPOSTERUS! "

The loud and mighty voice of the god of thunder was heard, quickly followed by the sound of a defenceless door being smashed to pieces by mjölnir. His voice seemed to echo for far more than just a few seconds, like an eternal battle cry. The meeting came to a sudden halt and a rather awkward silence was spread among the people attending, the voice still ringing in their ears. Only a fly which kept buzzing around agent Maria Hill's head was heard above it. She didn't dare to kill it, as if by doing so she would attract the wrath of the Viking god. Bruce Banner scratched the back of his head with a meaningful glance at Nick Fury, who pretended not to notice this action although it seemed to speak for all the others gathered at the table as well.

" Wait for it… " Bruce mumbled as he broke the silence the battle cry had left behind, preparing himself by putting his hands over his ears.

The sound of feet forcefully making their way through the corridor by intentionally stomping on the floor was heard and came closer and closer with each second. Fury looked down at the table, his ability to breathe somewhat strained.

The steps stopped abruptly and gave way for yet another loud slam; another door scheduled for repair.

" What is the meaning of this! " Thor commanded as he crossed the room over to Fury's side. " I demand an answer, right now! "

" I specifically told you not to enter the lab, not during any- " Bruce began, but was interrupted by a sudden smash to the table right in front of him.

" What did the table ever do to you? " Clint Barton gasped and rolled away from it on his chair, not interested in having his legs smashed in case the Viking with a tendency to quickly go berserk fancied smashing the poor table a bit more. " Rest in peace Mr. Table, once a loved and well-liked furniture… "

Thor ignored the comments, eyes focused intently on Bruce's. " What were they doing in there? What is the reason behind this incredibly brainless excuse for an experiment? "

" Thor- " Nick began.

" I am not speaking to you! " he roared at Nick and then turned his attention back to Bruce, grabbing the collar of his shirt. " Once again, what is the meaning behind all of this? They let _you_ into a lab, but not me in fear of that _I_ might break something? "

" Thor, " warned Nick, " of all the people you would want to upset by throwing a guilt trip their way – I promise you that this is not one of those people. "

With a last resentful look at Bruce, Thor let go and took a few steps back. Bruce took a deep breath. The wristwatch made a low alarming beep and caused the whole room to stop breathing. Beeping at the same rhythm as his pulse, it seemed to affect the heart rate of the other members in the room as well. Though calm and relaxed on the outside, Natasha Romanoff couldn't help but feel the memories of seeing Bruce turn into the hulk in front of her sneak up in the back of her mind. It had been truly horrible, watching him fight it and then give in to that... to that _other guy_. He had actually turned into a monster, a large green monster with unbelievable strength and stamina, and let's not forget the temper.

" Good time to take out that party trick now Banner... " she muttered under her breath.

A low sigh of relief echoed in the small meeting room as the beeps of the watch slowed more and more, until it was finally gone. A brief pause followed as they all relaxed.

" Now that we're all gathered- "

" Except for the captain and Stark. "

" Except for the captain and Stark, thank you Thor. " Nick didn't bother to look at the upset avenger, " I suppose it's time to tell you the exact reason as to why they're not here. "

Thor and Bruce exchanged aggravated looks.

" They are not here... Because there has been an accident, of sorts. "

" Yes you could say tha- "

" Thor, I don't care if you're the god of motherfucking thunder or an alien overlord or whatever the hell you would like to call yourself; I am speaking right now and you don't even know the whole story, so sit down and shut up! "

" Must be something personal, " Natasha whispered to Clint.

Thor did not sit down, but he did shut up in a dignified sort of way with his head held high.

" Now then, as it seems I have to get almost straight to the point to keep people's attention here... " Nick sighed. He looked at the people around the table, his one visible eye intently analyzing them. Were they ready to know? How he was he supposed to say this? There was no easy way to do it, but for Bruce's sake, he had to build up for it... " We all know about Dr. Banner here, his 'hulk state' so to speak, yes you all know... It was an attempt to copy the well known experiment performed on one of America's most famous men of all time – Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America. Many attempts have been made to make another superhero from scratch, but none have succeeded. "

Banner raised his eyebrows in a 'well, you certainly don't beat around the bush' kind of way.

" After Loki's attack and escape you all know that I specially forbade all of you from entering the lab. All, except for Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark and the captain. "

" You didn't... " Maria gasped, her voice trailing off when heads were turned her way.

" I did, indeed... I did ask Dr. Banner here to try his experiment once again... On Tony Stark. But before you all begin to curse me, let me remind you that we had _nothing_ on Loki when he escaped. It was all so ridiculously well planned out, making us argue and turn on each other in a time of need. You are all very skilled, but I thought that with our technology, the technology of today, we could achieve project America once again. Maybe more than once. It's a mystery why scientists during World War II were able to do something we can't do today! Don't you find that odd? Almost compelling? "

Nick paused, letting his words sink in. Thor analyzed him with doubting eyes and shot a glance or two at Bruce once in a while.

" So, " he continued, " I spoke with Dr. Banner here and Mr. Stark who both thought it to be a good idea. Mr. Stark actually volunteered to be the subject of the experiment. "

" Why? " Natasha asked. " He's not the kind of guy to make sacrifices, he's so self centred I wouldn't be surprised if he actually believed the world revolves around him. "

" Mr. Stark had his reasons, I assure you. " Nick replied in a very slow voice, his eyes darting between the others. " The experiment did not come very far. In one of the very first radiation tests something went very wrong. I can't really explain the very complex situation that occurred, would you be so kind as to fill in the gap, Dr. Banner? "

Bruce gave him a very dire look.

" Well, " he said and stood up. " we were uh.. There are two rooms on this ship that can isolate large amounts of radiation while at the same time stay in connection with each other and communicate through various channels and systems that I can control from the lab itself, far away from harm. When doing a test to compare the structure of Mr. Stark's physiology and the one of Mr. Rogers I got a little eager... Okay, I can see the looks you're giving me, I screwed up, okay? "

The faces around him looked as if they had been carved in stone, but a few eyes here and there were burning with strong disapproval.

" It all seemed to match so well, so to speed things up a bit I asked Rogers and Stark if we should try the prototype while we were at it. The side effects were supposed to be minor, some fever and a bit of vomiting at most due to sudden changes in the body's cellular structure and of course the strike to the brain that radiation has a tendency to cause, kind of like a very small dose of chemotherapy. You know, cancer and eh.. Yep... Well, anyway... But instead of getting a very small dose of chemotherapy, they were both exposed to very large amounts of this "prototype chemotherapy" to put it in simple words, along with a harmful dose of gamma radiation that was not supposed to be there. "

" So... Are they alive? " Clint asked.

" Yes. " Bruce said in a low voice, " But they're... They're not the same as before. "

" You make it all sound so dramatic, get to the point. " Natasha said, leaning back with arms crossed. But she was tense, very tense.

Bruce sighed, " I should just show you. You wouldn't believe me otherwise. "

It was a short walk over to the lab, but it seemed to last forever. It was as if the other avengers' looks burned into his back as Bruce lead the way, although he knew everyone could find it on their own. The lab door had been smashed down and gave away small electrical sparks as they passed, an eerie detail with this cloud of angry feelings hanging over their heads.

Upon entering, judging by the look on the others' faces, it seemed like they had expected to see something out of a horror movie with blood and guts thrown all over the place. But no, the lab was as clean and tidy as it always was. The only visible sign of disturbance was the broken door and the sparks that came from it.

Bruce turned around, " So, uh, I'll just be taking you, I mean showing you, the uh... radiation rooms. Look to your right please. "

As he pushed a short commando combo on a computer screen the white wall was revealed to be a shield of some sorts, two hidden windows. It tilted like Venetian blinds and uncovered two small separate dark rooms that lit up after yet another commando from Bruce.

" Is this... Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? " Natasha said with eyes wide open.

Silence.

" Is this for real? " she inquired.

" By mistake they received the same prototype, the one only Stark was supposed to receive, and they reacted a bit similar; yet different. Stark's cells recognized a mild, or well, mild in comparison to Rogers', regression and made his body... younger, so to speak, but still with his current muscle mass. The shrapnel is still moving to his heart but luckily, it is still being stopped by his ingenious device. As for, uh... Rogers... "

Bruce looked away from the windows.

They were both asleep, lying in what looked like modern electric chairs, various wires and pads still connected to their torsos and arms. Much like the lab, there was no blood to be seen, no guts or creepy looking shots and needles lying about. It was as if the human eye searched for a reason, a visible reason for what lay before them. Something had to give it all away, it couldn't be invisible, so untouchable, within the body that one could not control. The eyes couldn't help but make their way back to the men lying right in front of them, so seemingly lifeless and free from worries if one didn't look close. Their chests rose and sank with even rhythms, monitors showed steady vital signs and beeped almost at the same time; Tony's beeped just a tiny moment before Steve's, for their pulse was exactly the same. If the avengers hadn't known better, they would've thought nothing was wrong. If it wasn't for the fact that their team mates looked like they both recently had graduated from high school, there was no give away whatsoever.

" As you can see, " Bruce said and pushed his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose, still not looking through the windows. " They have both, well, grown younger sort of, like I said and Rogers has been reduced to the state he was in before he was in on project America. All of his strength, his muscle cells and strong skeleton, remarkable immune system and all that... they have all completely vanished. "

It was true. No one could possibly recognize this feeble young man lying before them as the famous Captain America. His arms were thin and frail looking, his skin pale and almost transparent. Looking closely, the bags under his eyes showed blue veins and his lips were chapped dry, covered with dead skin. Had he had his eyes open one would've been able to see a tint of red by the corners and how blank they became in an instant when he had them open too much or was exposed to one of his many allergies. While he still had his handsome features such as his cheekbones, his eyebrows and the shape of his mouth, they were not enhanced by his skinny appearance. As his body was covered only from the waist and below it was easy to spot his ribs almost poking out of his chest, revealing that he was one of the few people who have two extra. His shoulders were mostly bones and his neck looked like it belonged to a young girl. His hands looked just a delicate; they were not the ones of a fighter. He, was not a fighter.

" So... You tried to create another super soldier and instead you completely destroyed the only one we had? " Natasha said with an emotionless voice.

Bruce could not tell if she meant 'you' as in 'you, Bruce' or 'you' as in 'you, Stark, Fury and Rogers', but nodded nonetheless, a humble expression on his face.

" Great. Great job. Splendid. "

She spun around quickly and left the lab very quickly. Barton reflexively moved, then stopped as if he started to wonder if this would be considered rude, and ended up following Natasha anyway. One after one, the avengers and agent Hill left the room. Thor made sure to be the last one to leave, his distaste for secrets apparent on his face. Nick turned to Bruce and gave him a weak pat on the shoulder.

" How long will they be asleep? "

" They were pretty knocked out after, but I gave them anaesthetics just 'cause... Well, I... I really didn't want them to wake up before I knew what to tell them. They still have no idea. "

Bruce seemed to be getting a lump in his throat and took a deep breath to get rid of it, but his voice was still very shaken when Nick after a few moments asked him for how long they would be out.

" Two, maybe three more hours... "

" I'll get someone to look after them, don't worry. You go to your room and get some rest. "

Bruce nodded, looking down at the floor more than usual as he made his way over to the door.

" And Banner, don't forget... "

Bruce stopped.

" Don't blame yourself. It's on me and Stark too, and this is dangerous stuff. No one has ever been able to copy it. Remember that. "

He left the room with a short nod.

Fury turned to look at the two once again, swiftly picking up the com radio from his pocket to call agent Hill.

" I won't be reachable within the next three hours. No meetings, no calls. Meet someone else, call someone else. You copy that? "

" Yes, Sir. "

Now, he only had to wait.

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**So yes, I have this under "romance" and "drama". But just because there's drama, it doesn't mean there's no humour. I like the Avengers and other connected characters because there are millions of ways for them to act around each other. I find it very interesting to experiment with them in different situations and focus on some special traits of theirs that I feel like bringing forward.**

**For example, I made Clint more of a funny guy here, which might seem odd as this is set after Loki's escape and after Clint was able to free himself from Loki's spell, but in my mind Clint becomes the funny guy when Tony is absent. He's always the guy with the cynic and sarcastic one liners, but as something has happened to him someone else has to take his place.**

**I don't know, I could go on all night like this. I hope you enjoyed the fanfic. Stay tuned for more.**


	2. I haven't

**The next chapter is up!**

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" Fuck. Fuuuuuuck me, what did I do yesterday? "

Nick looked up from where he'd been sitting; on a plastic chair right outside the two radiation rooms. His back was hurting from sitting there for the last three and a half hour and his neck made a loud cracking noise as he moved, discreetly cracking the bones in his arms and hands without blinking even once. He inspected both rooms with a quick glance and let his eyes land on Tony. The test subject had started to move in the electric chair looking device and was yawning as he too had started stretching a bit. Well, it was more of a chair with the attribute of a stretcher that he was half sitting half lying on, but didn't look very comfortable at all. He opened his eyes and was immediately struck by how bright it was. Nick wished he could dampen the lights, but had no idea what command that was. He knew where the "open" command was on the screen, not much more. Tony had insisted on installing his own operative system into the lab's computers when beginning the experiment. Nick knew very well Tony had no desire to be watched over as he worked, which in this case suited Nick just fine as the directive counsel had no idea about this project. Or at the very least, they pretended not to know.

" Why am I feeling so sleepy? Have I... Have I been given anaesthetics? What the hell? " Tony put his hands on his face and started rubbing his eyes, peeling away eye crust.

Nick knocked on the glass.

" Oh great, Fury. Yeah, yeah, the prototype, I'll be right out! Not that you can hear me, but... "

Tony started removing all the pads and wires that were connected to his body. Nick watched him very closely, but not once did Tony seem to notice anything different about his body. Well, he did look very much like himself except for his face, but he had a lot fairer skin and thicker hair it seemed. He flexed his arms a bit while standing up, still not noticing any differences. He gestured at the door with a look that said 'why aren't you opening it right away?'. Nick hesitated for a few more seconds and then made his way over to the screen.

" Well damn, thanks for not alienating me in there. " Tony said, massaging his neck a bit as he entered the lab. " So, what's the news? How did the prototype go? Where's my green skinned science buddy? And where's my Black Sabbath sweater? "

" Stark... " Nick began.

" What? Well how did it go? I think I feel a bit stronger. Not overly you know, but I could swear my biceps- "

" Stark, " Nick said again, this time grabbing the eccentric man's shoulder. " Look in the mirror. "

" What mirror? I don't have a mirror. " Tony replied, beginning to feel a bit uneasy about Nick's seriousness. " What, what's going on? I'm not green am I?"

" Look at your reflection in the window. "

Tony gave Nick a long and questioning glance. An unwelcome knot started to tie itself in his stomach and he slowly made his way over to the window. Paranoid thoughts about the prototype causing him to get cancer, a tumour or something even worse began to cloud his mind.

_Impossible. It would be like chemotherapy we said. I know radiation can cause cancer, but we were so careful with the dosage. Cancer mutates within the body about five times every day and our immune system takes care of it – piece of cake. It's when we grow older and the immune system weakens that we start to become more vulnerable and easier targets for cancer to place its' despicable claws in. No, that can't be it. If it were cancer I wouldn't be able to see it. I mean, Fury's telling me to look in the mirror. Why isn't Banner here? Why only Fury? _

He hesitated a bit. One more step and he would be able to see his reflection in the window. He could see the top of his hair, at least that wasn't green. He'd always had this kind of comic book fantasy that radiation was green when he was a kid, like long green waves flowing through the air. Not that it was true, but Bruce did turn into a green man once in a while. That's a green result of radiation. _Dear God, I'm not...? I'm not going to... whenever I get angry now? Am I? Damn it, Stark, get a grip. Look. _

With a fast breath he took a step forward.

At first, he was very – not, not very, _incredibly_ - relieved to see that he wasn't green anywhere, but as realisation soon struck him he could do nothing but stare at the reflection of himself. This face, this childish face... He hadn't seen it for years, for so many years. He was back to the hard times and a wave of nauseous nostalgia and anxiety washed over him, a most uncomfortably familiar feeling had no intention of becoming acquainted with again. He couldn't quite believe it, not really. Not yet. He couldn't believe it although he was staring at the picture of his former self. No hologram, no doppelganger, no nothing... It was him. It was his past, staring him right back with the same eyes. Slowly he let go of the reflection and looked at his hands and arms again. Now that he analyzed them; they did look younger. He'd lost some of the pigment he'd picked up over the years and not as many veins were visible. It was as if looking at an old photograph and holding it over his real arm, masking it with the past.

" Why... " he said slowly, " Why do I look like I'm 15? "

" You looked a bit older a few hours ago, it's getting worse. "

Tony didn't turn around as he heard the new voice from the back of the lab. He just kept looking at his hands, as if they would tell him something, tell him something vital, tell him something important... As if they would tell him why.

" I monitored you from my room; the regression is slowly decreasing its' speed, but it's still affecting your cells and it's only a matter of time before it reaches more central functions of your brain. "

Tony turned around and stared at Bruce who still stood by the door, unsure whether he should come in or not. Nick eyed the both of them, remaining silent.

" What... the hell... happened? " Tony said.

Pause. Break. Silence.

" Things... " Bruce began, then stopped himself as his gaze became fixed on Tony. It was so bizarre to look at him. He knew very well that this was Tony, he knew very well what had happened, he'd been there when the liquid prototype in combination with the gamma radiation had mixed and ended up in this disastrous result. But it was still very hard to accept, to just accept that it had actually happened and what the result of it was. He'd screwed up, he'd accidentally confirmed the gamma request from the system. They'd gone through it again and again; only small amounts, seriously small amounts, to quote Tony. But he hadn't noticed that his hand resting against the screen had heightened the amount. Damn touch screens...

" Things what? " Tony's voice was alarmingly furious and scared at the same time. The last word emphasized in a gasp and his eyes were starting get a little blank.

" I screwed up. " Bruce replied in a confirming way. Tony wasn't stupid, of course it had been Bruce's fault. " I screwed up badly, okay? It was all my fault, you could not have done anything from in there. "

" And then you gave me anaesthetics so you could buy yourself some time to explain this I suppose? You couldn't just wake me up so I could take a look at this myself? Maybe so I could fix myself? " Tony roared.

" Okay, so I screwed up twice! " Bruce shouted back to the other side of his room. His watch started beeping. " I'm so very sorry, what the hell do you want me to say? I panicked, I had no idea this would continue! I had no damn idea this would result in- "

" I don't want you to say anything! I want you do give me the laptop you've got there in your hand and show me exactly what happened so I'll know if I'm ever going to turn into a big green- "

" Stark, Banner! " Nick said. " This is neither the time nor the place to get upset or angry. You two are the only scientists we've got, the only ones we have. Now I can't fix this, agent Hill can't fix this, Rogers can't fix this- "

" Rogers! What happened to him? "

Silence.

A low knock was heard, a knock on glass. Three pairs of eyes turned to the source of the noise.

There he was, his upper body bare like Tony's and free of all pads and wires. He must've woken up as soon as Tony was out of the radiation room and had his knocks drowned in the shouts. Nick reacted quickly and pressed the commando for his door to open, ready to assist the captain in any way he needed.

Slightly sweating and with eyes half opened Steve slowly walked into the lab, supporting himself on the door frame and his upper body slightly bent forward. He looked feverish and extremely pale, his hair a complete mess and his hands slightly shaking. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath as he looked up at Nick in front of him.

" I feel nauseous. "

" I'll take you down to the infirmary captain. "

" Most unwise. " Bruce chipped in. " Total dick, I know, but I really want to have him here in the lab. As I said, the regression is still ongoing and I really want to work on finding some... solution to this. I know it's much to ask considering... the, yeah, uhm... Captain? "

Steve looked up at Bruce with such tired and indescribably sad eyes that the scientist felt a sting of pain pierce his heart.

" I'll do it. "

Tony who had remained silent could not stop staring at Steve. He'd always heard the stories of the superhuman Captain America, the country's saviour, how he'd started out with numerous rejections and then turned into a super soldier. He'd saved so many lives, fought so many bad guys, had his name and face associated with the nation and here he was now. He was no superhero, no fighter, no life saver. He looked so weak, so frail. It was as if his body had a hard time just getting through each breath he took, every moment his muscles made. It was as if existing was a physical impossibility.

" Well get him a proper damn bed, those things are not comfortable. "

Nick saw through him at once, but didn't say anything. He went up to the captain and supported him all the way over to the chair. Leaning forward with his head between his legs, Tony could see Steve's spine very clearly, as if the skin wasn't strong enough to keep it in there, as if it might just break and dislocate his entire back. Why had his muscle mass stayed and not Steve's? Why had he reacted so differently to the same prototype?

" Come in infirmary. I need a portable bed and basic medical supplies for a situation in the lab. Also, send a repairman for the door. I'm a bit busy right now. "

" Yes sir. " a voice answered on the radio.

Within a few minutes a repairman and two men from the infirmary were in the lab. Bruce removed himself from the door and awkwardly made his way over to Tony. He feared the anger of the billionaire but noticed very soon that seeing the captain had completely made his anger just fade away. He was very tense and deep in thought as Bruce showed him all the data he had from before the prototype, during its' time being unleashed and the data that had been gathered while they'd both been monitored. Tony was a smart man, but Bruce couldn't help but notice that he was barely paying attention to what he was showing him. His thoughts were somewhere completely else, and it was not hard to guess where.

" Stark. " Bruce said when Tony had not reacted to a three seconds silence. " Look, I understand that you're shocked, but if you want to help like you said; here's your chance. We might have an unknown deadline, both for you and the captain. "

Immediately Tony reacted and looked down at the screen.

" I've been listening. "

He left the sentence hanging in the air, as if he had some excuse or explanation coming right up but left it at nothing. Bruce waited for a few seconds and then resumed his explanation, but now with Tony's attention.

" So we can see here that it all started from both of your vertebrates... "

_... To hell with this. Seriously to hell with this._

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**I got some questions about this on tumblr and I hope you guys realize that I am doing some complete bullshit science talk here. I know nothing of it, I'm not trying to say I do either. I just make up a fake terminology *wink***

**But thanks to some of you science nerds out there, it was most interesting to read you rants.**


	3. I didn't

For three days straight, he worked. For three days he lived on nothing but water, the occasional chocolate bar and pure willpower. His body felt more like a machine than his Iron Man suit, which he now couldn't get into anymore. It didn't fit his new body (or could you say old body?). It became younger and younger and although the screen showed him that the deaging speed was decreasing, it sure didn't feel like it. A few weeks ago Pepper had made a remark about him becoming older, causing a minor wave of paranoia in front of the mirror before he mentally slapped himself, walked away from the damn thing and returned to work. So what if he aged, he was still sexy. He knew it. That had been his attitude. Now he felt like breaking down every time he caught his own reflection on the monitor's dark screensaver, every time he had to look at his hands because he typed something wrong on the keyboard or he noticed someone looking at him for an extended amount of time.

Bruce avoided all eye contact as much as possible. He preferred to look at the screen while talking to Tony or looking down at papers in his hands while explaining theories, possible solutions or just reports. He did look very much at Steve though, lying weak and tired on the bed in the first radiation room. The lab wasn't really a hospital so the room it had all happened in had to serve a new purpose for the time being.

A quick glance at the clock told Tony the time was eleven a.m. He drank another gulp of water and scratched his chin. The wrist watch on his right arm tinkled in an annoying fashion as he put the glass down, causing him to violently try to take it off without success. His fretting with the watch grew frantic until he with extreme amounts of concentration and restrained anger managed to get it off; throwing it into the wall with all his might. The sound of glass breaking and metal falling to pieces made all other sounds in the lab make a slight pause to take in what happened and then, a little more quietly, continue as if nothing had happened. These sounds were the sounds of Bruce stomping his feet to the rhythm of the music in his left ear, his scribbling on a document and the sound of Nick talking to agent Hill via the com radio.

They both looked at Tony who ran both his hands through his thick brown hair, leaned himself over his desk and rested his head and elbows against the surface, all while taking deep breaths.

" Sir? " agent Hill's voice said on the com radio and Bruce returned to his digging and scribbling.

Nick pushed the button. " Yes, I'm here. Make sure the deliveries to San Diego go smoothly and then tell Barton to swing by the infirmary to take a look at his head. Just to be sure. "

" Will do, Sir. "

Nick put the radio away and stood up slowly, approaching the stressed out avenger with caution. Tony heard him coming and felt that he couldn't give any more fucks about whatever Nick was going to say. He needed a rest? No, then he would be wasting time, he wouldn't be solving this. He needed to eat? No, it's not like he was preparing for the Olympics, he'd be fine. Eating would also be a waste of time. He didn't need shit but time, which was something he was very sure Fury could not provide.

" Take a break, Stark. I'll send something up from the kitchen so you can get something to eat and get some sleep. "

" No. "

Sigh.

" Why are you refusing? You're not going to make any breakthroughs when you're about to fall asleep on the monitor. "

" I am _not_ going to fall asleep. " Tony said, demonstratively standing up with a slight balance failure and quickly supported himself by grabbing a hold of the desk. " Look, I'm fine, I'm very much fine, thanks for asking. Go chase down the crazy god lunatic who controls people's brains and plans world domination instead, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine if you go work on that one and let me work on this one. "

He hadn't planned on making it sound like he meant Steve, but his eyes involuntarily landed on the window which gave him a clear view into the temporary room the captain rested in, his face not visible in the damp light. He was even younger, and even sicker than before according to the data on his computer. Of course, this did not escape Nick's attention. Though, he found it to be the wisest decision to pretend that it did.

" I know you want to cure yourself Stark, but why won't you at least rest your body a bit by lying down and let Banner run some tests on you again? Maybe it's slowed down? "

Tony gave Nick an interrogating look and Nick felt his natural poker face fall into place. He'd always been good at keeping the mask, make his face feel like plastic. Maybe he could be called a liar, but in this kind of business that was not a bad thing.

" Fine. " Tony snarled, " Banner. Come and make me look like I'm an alien again. "

Bruce gave Nick a slightly confused look while Tony marched into the second radiation room, shutting the door behind him.

" Stark is in serious need of some sleep. If not for his health; for his grumpy attitude. " Nick said and cracked his neck a bit.

" You better let someone take a look at that, a massage wouldn't hurt. "

Nick ignored him. " I think Stark blames himself for this going wrong, especially Rogers. " He caught Bruce's attention at once. " Run the tests, sneak some anesthetics into him, somehow, I don't care how you do it, and tell him he should watch over Rogers for a while, say you're doing something from here. Just say when and I'll bring in a comfortable chair and hopefully he'll catch some sleep. "

Bruce nodded, taking this in. He glanced at Tony who'd started attaching the pads to himself, slow and unfocused movements.

Nick left the room and closed the now fixed door behind him.

Bruce collected what he needed and entered the second radiation room. Tony was lying down, blinking his eyes furiously and obviously straining his muscles; everything so he wouldn't fall asleep. Bruce couldn't help but pity the man. He knew very well what it felt like to blame himself for this; oh, if Tony only knew. Sleep? He knew nothing of sleep these days. He pretended like he went to sleep, but he really sat in his room with his laptop and stared at the screen, trying to figure out what was wrong, what could be done. Taste he had not bothered to notice for days, everything was just nutrition he knew deep down that he needed to go on, he didn't refuse it like Tony.

" Just get on with it. " Tony muttered, not looking at Bruce who sped up the work with the wires. He didn't bother to reply, knowing that whatever he said would be turned against him.

Exiting the room, he shut the door behind him, locked it from the lab and started the tests. It would take about five minutes to get the results and they would show him the speed of the deaging, currently "damaged" areas so to speak, basic vitals and if he was lucky, he would be able to predict how it would evolve.

But the problem remained; how was he supposed to stop it?

After five minutes of obsessive blinking and clenching his fists, lettings his nails claw their way into his skin, Tony sat up and removed all the wires and pads. He was sick of them by now. The first day Bruce had wanted him to lie here and run the tests once every hour to document the spread, which Tony understood, so he couldn't really argue. But as much as he wanted to be as useful as possible to a scientist with the brains of Bruce Banner, he would never be able to forgive him if he didn't succeed. The only way he could be sure that everything that could be done would be done was by doing it himself. He couldn't just lie here when this was something he could somewhat understand. Maybe not entirely, but he had an interest in it and was a quick learner and absorbed knowledge like a sponge. He had to know he tried and failed.

He felt a bit dizzy as he stood up, but didn't let it show as he exited the room and approached Bruce where he stood by one of the desks, staring at the screen. While lying down, he'd experienced the oddest headache. It hurt, but not in a specific area or so, and not like someone was using mjölnir to try and bash his brains out. It was more of a slow kind of pain, a bothersome kind of pain to describe it best. He felt strange, almost alien. He was still himself, but it felt as if he was changing on the inside somehow. It had hurt, but not in such a physical way.

" Still slowly decreasing in speed? " Tony asked and placed himself beside the scientist.

Bruce didn't reply. He just kept staring at the screen that showed scans of Tony's brain. Tony not being very good with simply looking at pictures of brains waited patiently for a reply that didn't come.

" What are we looking at here? " he asked.

" Your brain. "

" Shit Sherlock. I mean why are you not only looking but staring at it? "

Bruce stood up and turned to look Tony in the eyes, almost tearing up as he spoke.

" Anthony, " he said, surprising Tony by the sudden choice of calling him by his full first name. " Your brain is literally shrinking, this should be causing you troubles. You haven't slept, you haven't eaten properly and on top of all this; you are _deaging_. This is reversed evolution, reversed life! I just... I don't... It just looks like you will be experiencing some kind of Alzheimer's. I've been taught the brain can store infinite amounts of memories, but I don't know... and I... The data... "

Tony stared at the screen, stared at the scans of his brain. He didn't blink even once while Bruce started going around the lab, collecting notes and whatnot, constantly mumbling to himself. He kept staring, as if outstaring it would spill the beans, would give him all the answers he sought. These photos of his brain dyed in the all the colours of the rainbow did him no good, he couldn't see what Bruce saw, and the data with codes and numbers he'd never seen before told him nothing. He saw nothing, he could just hear Bruce's word ringing in his ears. _Alzheimer's... Reversed evolution... What the flying fuck._

" Look, Stark, " Bruce called from the other side of the lab. " I can't really make you lie down like Rogers, but would you at least... check up on him and just... I mean... This, I... I'll ask Fury to bring a chair or something. "

Tony threw his hands up in the air in defeat and said lowly, " Whatever". Bruce took that as a yes and called Nick to send up a chair. Within two minutes a most comfortable armchair was sent up and placed just beside Steve's bed. Tony looked as the two men carrying the armchair carefully made their way into the first radiation room and took a long, deep breath. Just watch over him, that was the deal. He knew now he wouldn't be of much use, this was clearly Bruce's area and not his. He knew war technology, he was a genius at war technology. But tired, weary and blue he was of no help at all in this and accepted Bruce's request.

Bruce was busy studying a sample of Tony's blood in a microscope and did not look up when Tony opened the door to the first radiation room.

Closing the door behind him, all he could hear was the sound of very heavy breathing. Isolated from the lab, he could not hear Bruce's continuous muttering, the frantic scribbling of his pencil or the sound of the fan next to his desk, releasing a low humming and a slight breeze that barely touched the papers. He saw the chest under the cover rise and sink in a steady rhythm with the occasional cough disrupting it for a few seconds. It hurt to look at, even more so when he saw the wires that discretely made their way from a couple of machines in under the covers. He wondered what they were for. Medical care wasn't exactly his area of expertise either and he started to wonder if Bruce knew what he was doing. Then again, hadn't he been running around curing people in India or something before SHIELD found him?

He slowly made his way over to the armchair. He kept his gaze fixed on the rising and sinking chest, feeling a comfort in how steady the rhythm was. Once he sat down, he dared look higher up. The face of the captain was hidden under the white cover. Carefully removing the textile, he revealed the face of his fellow avenger and felt like a stone had been flung into his stomach.

The eye sockets looked almost hollow and big bags hung under the eyes. His eyelashes and corners were decorated with eye crust, which in combination with his spookily white skin gave a very lifeless, almost dead, look. Over his nose and mouth was a plastic mask. If it was to help him sleep or breathe, Tony could not tell. He'd never been too familiar with feelings of guilt, but seeing another human being like this... It was like science fiction. The stories of Steve's weakness before the super soldier project looked pale in comparison to this. Understatements even.

Lost in his thoughts, he made a very sudden movement when he noticed that Steve was looking at him. Speechless, he could do nothing but look back.

His eyes were clear and wide open, not as tired as before. He looked younger as well, even younger than Tony. They really had a certain childish look and something shined in them that Tony wasn't certain he could interpret.

" You feel it too, don't you? "

His voice was barely a whisper, barely a sound at all.

" Feel what? " Tony asked, though he had an idea of what he meant.

Steve gave him a meaning glance, not letting go of their eye contact.

Silence.

" The headache. " Tony said with a colourless voice.

" The headache, the _slipping_. "

Slipping. That was it. It felt as if he was slipping from something, losing the grip.

Silence.

" Banner says I'm going to experience some kind of Alzheimer's, reversed evolution and... life. Think this is what it's like? You start to slip? Think it'll happen to both of us? "

" I'm not the scientist here, " Steve said, now looking away and eyeing all of the machines around him instead. He looked tired again. " All I know is that I'm starting to... to change, to slip. Not just my body, and... As I lie here, it is as if I can feel my body becoming younger, and with it a bit stronger I think. I've always been a weak child, but never as weak as when I grew. In comparison to everyone else, all the others who could run, fight, help their mother carry groceries, help their father with the car, carry their girl in their arms, enlist in the army... "

His voice trailed off into nothingness. Such an empty hole, such an empty heart. Suddenly everything felt so open, so exposed. No one on the team had ever gotten close to the captain, he had not really become friends with anyone or let them inside his walls. Tony was careful not to let people come too close, but he was also a social man; he'd become friends with Bruce through the lab and would gladly speak about himself with the other Avengers and liked to loosen up a bit, relax. But Steve never did. He preferred to remain only an acquaintance, to remain the captain and nothing else. Such thick walls are always made out of sorrow.

Tony had never thought of Steve that way, that maybe he missed his own time. He'd lost everything and been thrown into the future, practically another world, but his refusal to show weakness had always given Tony the expression that he was fine and a way too noble nationalist with a big love for moral with nothing else going through his thoughts. How odd it felt to realize there was more to it, there was more to that shell.

Steve looked at Tony again. " You look almost as bad as I feel. "

" Well you ain't no princess either, you know. " Tony replied and felt the first genuine grin he'd felt in days decorate his face.

Steve returned a feeble smile and closed his eyes, giving them the shape of two reversed u's. It looked so uncharacteristic.

After a few seconds the smile faded and Steve drifted into sleep with a slightly furrowed and sweat decorated forehead. Tony sighed and leaned back into the chair, slowly drifting off to sleep with a vision a short lasting peace. But as he drifted off to sleep, he could vaguely feel how he was slipping even further away from something now. From what, he could not recall. But it was there, it was there...


End file.
